Where Did Sugar Come From? - Addicted To Pleasure - BBC

Brian Cox looks into where sugar originally came from and talks to a sugar historian about when it arrived in Britain. Taken from Addicted To Pleasure.

[prashikshegaonkar]

Not one Mention of India where Sugar was actually first created. The Word Sugar itself comes from Sanskrit word “Sarkara” which itself means ground substance.

[unumkumunu]

Saccharum barberi, is native to N.India from which sugar was originally produced

Sanskrit term "Sarkara" is the base of all modern names of Sugar

[aliimran]

The first chemically refined sugar appeared on the scene in India about 2, 500 years ago. From there, the technique spread east towards China, and west towards Persia and the early Islamic worlds, eventually reaching the Mediterranean in the 13th century.

[Nikoyew]

fantastic series, i'd love to learn more about it . Hope BBC planning to make a full version :)

[gangstalion]

Basically one of the first drug dealers cause sugar more addictive than any drug

[ganeshcsaiisc]

LOL! Sugar was first manufactured in India. It was monopoly of India untill 15th century. The name itself came from Sanskrit. In your documentary you didnt even mention India, thats laughable.

[abhijitdeo]

Sugar was invented and first produced in India

[najemo]

In Tamil, the word "Sakkaram" means "Wheel" which was spun (Large Wooden Wheel) to produce sugar and the finished product is called "Sakkarai". When rich took it around the world for profit, they took the word as well, making Sakkarai --> Saccara --> sucra -->sucre --> Sugar. The word "Saccharin" (artificial sweetener) also derived from this alone. But as usual history always changes/forgotten with time..!

[unumkumunu]

Sankrit : Sarkara
|
Persian: Shakar
|
Arabic : Sukkar
|
Latin: Saccarum
|
French: Sucre

[Don_Pedro-SodFather]

Why isn't the full episode available?

[muhumads]

Wow I'm interested to learn more about it

[addiecoughlin]

I wish this talked more about the slaves and their lives with sugar but good video

[NickWalkerWilliamson]

I was so fascinated with all the sugar talk, I didn’t even notice Brian Cox was the one interviewing him.

[beppo]

I was practically at the end of this video before I realized the host was Brian Cox, bad guy extraordinaire.

[clarkorion]

What I'd gathered, from an English point of view, was that the first contact with sugar was around 1100 through crusaders (=religious war fighters) who’d been to the Middle East (and the people there who in turn had slowly introduced it for several centuries, as they’d imported it from South, South-East Asia (where it’d emerged in the climate, as it’s a type of large grasses, which, like maize and bamboo, are in the ‘Poaceae’ family.))

Later (1600s) taken by then small, exclusive societies of English aristocratics such as merchants/traders/privateers who started cultivating it on overseas’ land.

[ekamsat]

There is a reason why the terms like "sugar" and "candy" are of Sanskrit origin. Beyond just growing of sugarcane, the ancient history of sugar is largely of Indian ingenuity in refining and producing the crystals, which allowed its easy spread - via the Arab route - and adoption worldwide. India dominated the sugar trade for many centuries, which, along with cotton, greatly enriched its economy. It is historically documented how India transferred this valuable tech to China and elsewhere. This documentary should have touched upon it but who can accuse BBC of being knowledgeable of history?

[cheliae]

Thank you SO much for this information!

[iambhargab]

Sugar was first produced from sugarcane plants in India sometime after the first century AD. The derivation of the word "sugar" is thought to be from Sanskrit शर्करा (śarkarā), meaning "ground or candied sugar, " originally "grit, gravel".
But no India is mentioned

[zurzakne-etra]

wait so nothing about the slave trade?

[bcgrote]

This explains a bit why even today the Scandinavian countries' "candies" are not very sweet, or are fruit based.  Mmm, salmiakki.